Adjustable supports for single or multiple mail boxes



H. J. RYAN Oct. 16, 1962 ADJUSTABLE SUPPORTS FOR SINGLE OR MULTIPLE MAILBOXES Filed June 20. 1960 WIIIIIIIIIA HAROLD J. RYAN INVENTOR.

AT? Y free 3,058,710 ADJUSTABLE SUPPORTS FOR SINGLE R MULTIPLE MAILBOXES Harold J. Ryan, The Dalles, 0reg., assignor 0f fifty percent toDoris M. Ryan, The Dalles, Oreg. Filed June 20, 1960, Ser. No. 37,139 1Claim. (Cl. 248-124) This invention relates to improvements in supportsfor single or multiple mail boxes on rural free delivery routes, mountedroutes or star routes.

It is one of the principal objects of the invention to provide a mailbox support which can be assembled with the simplest of hand tools, andwhich will provide a strong, durable, neat and inexpensive installation,and wherein the mail box or boxes may be conveniently raised, orlowered, and locked in any of these adjusted positions where mostconvenient for a postman to reach from his car or mail truck withouthaving to dismount to deposit the mail in boxes positioned too high, ortoo low, and out of his reach from the vehicle.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof and inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a mail box support made inaccordance with my invention.

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the left-hand end of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of FIGURE 1 with the mail box and ornamentalknob on top of the post removed.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the supporting bracket shown in FIGURE1.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of a modified form of supporting bracket.

FIGURE 6 is a modified form of support for a pair of mail boxes.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view on an enlarged scale ofthe support shown in FIGURES 6 and 7.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a support for aplurality of mail boxes, and

FIGURE 10 is a sectional side elevational view taken approximately alongthe line 1010 of FIGURE 9.

With continuing reference to the drawing and particularly FIGURES 1-4thereof, reference numeral 1 indicates a post or standard which ispreferably formed of galvanized metal pipe secured by a pipe coupling 2to a bottom section 3 of sufiicient length to permit embedding the samein the ground or in a concrete block (not shown) embedded in the ground.

Adjustably mounted upon the post 1 and lockable thereto by any desirednumber of set screws, as at 4, is a bracket, indicated generally at 5,and comprising a collar 6 of any desired length cast integral with fourradiating arms 7, 8, 9 and 10, whose outer ends are turned into parallelrelation to each other as shown, and integrated with these ends of thearms are hollow tubular members 14 and 15, respectively. Adjustablymounted within the tubular members and lockable thereto by set screws 16are the legs 19 and 20 of a bail member, indicated generally at 2-1. Itwill be readily understood that the collar 6, as well as the tubularmembers 14 and 15, may be of any desired length to meet various loadrequirements and any desired number of set screws may be used forsecurely locking the collar to the post 1 and the bail member 21 to thetubular members. A mail box supporting-frame having spaced apartparallel side members 22 and 23 of angle section,

closed at its rearward end by a similar section 24 and at its forwardend by a fiat bar 24A, is secured as at 25 to the legs 19 and 20 of thebail member. These points of securement may be in the form of rivets orspot welding to render the assembly of bracket 5, bail member 21 andmail box supporting-frame permanent, or bolts and nuts may be used sothat the frame may be removed from the bail member or secured thereto invarious adjusted positions lengthwise of the bail member.

In the modified form of bracket shown in FIGURE 5, I dispense with thetubular members 14 and 15 and instead provide aligned apertures 30 and31 in the ends of the arms 7A-10A. These arms are integrated with asplit collar 6A flanged as at 32 to receive a bolt and nut 3334 by meansof which the collar can be centripetally clamped to the post 1A. When soclamped the apertured ends of the arms 7A10A will bind, as indicated inbroken lines, into secure engagement with the leg members 19A-20A of thebail member 21A which extend through the apertures.

A conventional mail box 36 may be conveniently secured to the sidemembers 22 and 23 of the supportingframe by set screws 37, or the like,extending through the frame members and into the usual flanged bottomside edges (not shown) of the mail box.

The modified form of support shown in FIGURES 6-8 comprises a collar 40secured in any approved manner to the underside of a platform 41 andlockable in various adjusted positions to the post 1B by a set screw 42.The platform 41 may be of any desired length to accommodate more thanthe one mail box on each side of the post shown in FIGURE 6.

Secured to the top surface of the platform 41 are two pairs of identicaltubular rails, indicated generally at 44 and 45. Each rail is slotted,as at 46, throughout its length to accommodate a companion rail 47provided with an integrated vertical flange 48 whose top edge isintegrated with, or secured to, an angle iron 49. The angle irons ineach pair oppose each other, as shown, to accommodate a mail box 36Asecured in place by a suitable number of set screws, or the like, as at50, extending through the angle irons and into the flanged bottom sideedges of the mail box. By this arrangement the mail box and itssupporting-frame can be adjusted lengthwise of its respective tracks andlocked thereto by set screws 51.

In the further modification shown in FIGURE 9, I provide two identicalbrackets, indicated generally at 55, vertically adjustable On a pair ofposts 56 and lockable thereto by set screws 57. Each bracket comprises acollar 58 integrated with a pair of arms 59 to whose top outer ends issecured a plate 60 for securement, as at 61, to the underside of aplatform 62 of suflicient length to accommodate a plurality of mailboxes 36B, as shown in FIGURE 9, which are secured to the platform inany approved manner.

While I have shown particular forms of embodiment of my invention, I amaware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves toothers skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Having thus described my invention what I claim as newand desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A mail box support comprising a post, a collar adjustably mounted uponthe post and provided with means for locking the collar to the post, ahorizontal platform mounted upon said collar, at least one pair ofspaced apart parallel rails secured to said platform, a pair ofcompanion rails slidable and lockable within said first pair of rails, amail box supporting-frame secured to said 3 4 companion rails and meanscarried by said frame for 1,215,915 Creswell Feb. 13, 1917 attachment toamail'box. 1,667,669 Megee Apr. 24, 1928 1,956,986 Hetherington May 1,1934 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,73 8,941 Laurich Mar.20, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2,919,091 Vander Cook Dec. 29, 1959423,611 Longyear "Mar. 18, 1890 FOREIGN PATENTS 541,216 Shanley June 18,1895 75,037 Switzerland May 16, 1917

